


Tatters

by AllGrey



Category: Mystic Messenger
Genre: Day 10 and 11 on V's route, F/M, Hospitalization, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, death mention, everyone frantically trying to care for each other, i s2g one day there'll be plot in something i make, jumin got handed a job and he'll do it even if he's completely lost, the smallest tiniest diversion from canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-15 19:59:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13620642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllGrey/pseuds/AllGrey
Summary: It's almost the end of Mint Eye, and the weight is getting heavy on everyone. Everyone who's awake, that is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> the MC in this one is the OC i developed for V's route specifically! she's half-Chinese and half-Korean. Her name is taken from a couple Mandarin words (i wanna clarify that I don't know enough about Mandarin to know if that even vaguely resembles a name or if it looks like someone naming their kid Pelican would in the US, but I accept it if the latter is the case). I may make more for these pairings/polycule later, I may not.

Cuixin sat in the prepared hospital room, in one of three chairs lining the far wall, alone. Seven and Jumin were holed up in a break room of some sort down the hall. She figured they only got a space like that to themselves because Jumin was the Jumin Han, but she wasn’t going to tease him about it now. They needed it if they were going to protect the RFA from Mint Eye.

She called everyone every couple of hours, just like she’d always done since she had joined the RFA. Back when she had thought it was some experimental game she’d be getting some extra cash for.

It seemed so silly now.

Her hand gravitated towards Ray’s number automatically, but she didn’t hit the dial button. He hadn’t answered all day, and his last call… she was worried for him. She was sure had been a victim of this once, too.

She puffed out a burst of air and leaned forward, setting her head in her hands and tensing her fingers.

This was crazy. She had been in Korea for 2 months and in the last two weeks she had been kidnapped by a cult, nearly drugged and tortured, and was now waiting at the hospital for a guy she...had feelings for, who she had only met 2 weeks before.

Her mother would have been screaming about her never having left well enough alone, and she’d have been kind of right.

“Cuixin? ...Am I intruding?” Jumin’s soft voice said from the doorway across the room.

“Oh, Jumin! No, I’m just…” She sighed. “Just tired.”

“I can imagine so. You must not have had a lot of time to sleep since V was drugged.” He walked into the room, and sat next to her, leaving a chair between them.

He had been an odd combination of polite and attentive since they met in person. She didn’t know him very well, but she was positive this wasn’t exactly his usual behavior.

V had asked him to take care of her. More than that, actually. He had said she “deserved happiness and love, even if not from him”.

Which was a….lot. A lot. A very sweet, tender gesture, definitely. But a lot to be unpacked. She had to assume it was a lot for Jumin too.

“Honestly, I don’t think I was sleeping that well before he was drugged. As soon as I got there, it was…”

Well, to be fair she hadn’t fully understood just how much she’d screwed up until later. But she hadn’t been sleeping well anyway.

“Yes, being in Mint Eye must have been difficult. The Intelligence Unit has uncovered Mint Eye’s crimes… It’s hard to fully accept.”

She nodded and leaned back into the chair, turning to look a him fully. He had light little bags under his eyes, but he wasn’t looking fully at her, only down and to the left. More like at her feet.

“How are you doing, Jumin?” She asked.

“I am worried about V, but I am fine. And you? How are you doing, other than tired?”

“I’m fine. Is there any news on him?” She said, not giving herself time to think about it too much.

“The nurse said this kind of procedure usually takes a few hours, but that they had to be careful because of the drug. We have no choice but to wait.” He flicked his eyes up to look at her head on as he adjusted his cufflink.

“He’ll be alright.” She said automatically.

“Yes. He will be.” Jumin said, and he didn’t look away.

Everyone else in the group complimented her when she said that. Told her how much it helped. And she’d always liked that, had preened under that kind of praise. But everyone had a limit.

She realized suddenly that Jumin did the same thing she always did. Be the strong one. Do your best to be positive. Be the one to push the car when it had stalled, and get the group over the hill.

The understanding must have shown in her eyes, because his breath caught a bit, and he looked away.

“We’ll have Mint Eye and Rika taken care of soon, and that will be one less thing to worry over.” He said, eventually.

“...What did you find on Rika?” She asks, softly.

He grunted a little, and his hand found his cufflink again. It glinted in the light as he twisted it. “We don’t need to talk about it now. There are many illegal activities she’s participated in.”

“Talking can help you make sense of things. Accept them, at least. I don’t know if I’ll ever make full sense of what happened…”

Jumin sighed and his hand stilled. “Alright. I’ll try it. You’re not the first person she’s kidnapped. There are a half dozen missing persons cases in the last six months that can be attributed to Mint Eye.”

“It seems so quick for so many.” Cuixin said, shifting in her seat, trying to think of the “Believers” she had seen.

“It does. It appears that she has been planning this for some time. The Intelligence Unit uncovered evidence that she’d been using some of her party contacts to… collect potential Believers.” His voice was strained as he looked back down at her feet.

“I didn’t see many of them. Ray- the hacker- had me locked in one room, and I couldn’t leave without him and a blindfold. There were maybe, six or seven that I saw? But the building was very big. And I heard-” She couldn’t make herself finish, remembering the scream and how Ray had stumbled over himself trying to explain it away to her.

“May I ask you a question?” He said, after she didn’t continue on.

“Sure.”

“When we were researching Mint Eye, we didn’t see anyone had put in a missing person’s report for you. Is there no one who was looking for you?”

“There was only my grandfather… he died a month ago…” She trailed off.

“Oh.” There was a pause. “I’m sorry for your loss.” 

“Thank you….” She said automatically, and then, “Wait, you really didn’t find any of my info? I’m a foreigner. I have plenty of paperwork.”

“I had guessed you were from your name. It seems as if Mint Eye stole and hid all the important documents from those they kidnapped.”

She took a breath and looked over at him, concerned. “Then...what will happen to me?”

“We’re still pouring through all of the information. There’s some we haven’t gotten to yet. However, if yours isn’t in there, we’ll sort it out. I’ll speak to Immigration on your behalf if necessary.” Jumin said very seriously.

“Thank you, Jumin. I don’t know what me and V would have done if not for the rest of you.”

“From what I can tell, if not for you, V would have continued down this path. And more than that, you are a victim in this situation. Of course we would help.” He replied.

“Still. Thank you. You do all of this for me when you should be able to focus on helping the friends you’ve known for years.”

“... You saw Rika when you were in there?” Jumin asked, after a pause.

“Yes.” Cuixin looked down at her hands where they were all tangled in her lap.

“...If you don’t mind, what did she say to you?” He asked, slowly.

“A lot of bullshit about darkness and light.” Cuixin snorted and then shook her head. “Sorry- it’s just-”

“You’ve been through a traumatic experience. It’s alright if you don’t want to-” Jumin started.

“No- thank you, but it’s just hard to...understand what she was saying. She said that her relationship with V wasn’t great, more or less, and that he held her on a pedestal that she couldn’t reach. That made sense, but then…” She paused to think.

Jumin sat quietly, and started twisting his cufflink again.

“...she talked about how she had to feed a devil in her, and acted like what she was doing was helping people. Even though I knew V was hurt, she said this stuff.”

“She used to call V her sun…” Jumin trailed off.

“Hm. She traded between blaming him and blaming the world, and then blaming the fact that she was ‘born like this’.” Cuixin shook her head again and felt her heart squeeze.

“No one is born leading a cult.” Jumin said, sounding like he’d found a hair in his soup and not his best friend’s seemingly dead ex leading a religion.

She laughed softly. “That’s what I said, more or less.”

“She… is alive, and responsible for dozens of crimes.” Jumin said in a long exhale.

“I’m sorry. This must be hard for you.” She said looking back towards him.

“It is. But you were the one she directly tried to hurt, so-” His phone dinged and he looked down at it. “Ah. Luciel needs my assistance again. We will talk again. Excuse me.”

As he stood up something occurred to her.

“Wait. If you can, make sure Seven has something to eat. I’ve only seen him eat one bag of chips the past couple days, and I think he’s working harder than any of us.” She said, waving her hands around a bit in concern.

Jumin nodded. “Good idea. I’ll have the hospital bring him something. Excuse me.”

She leaned back in the chair and shut her eyes a bit. She could wake up when someone came in.

***

Seven burst in and she woke up with a start. “V’s coming!”

She nearly fell over as she blearily shot out of her chair and tried to scramble to the door.

“Woah, careful there Cuixin!” Seven said, as he jumped forward and held her up by her arms.

“How did it go? Is he gonna be okay?” Her words came out all jumbled, and she looked around Seven’s shoulder to try to see V as he came in.

“They don’t know yet. They think the surgery went well, but we’ll have to wait and see. He might not wake up for a few days, so slow down! Don’t need you hurting yourself!” Seven gave her his best, clearly forced, smile. 

“Okay. Alright. Okay.” She said as she stepped back. “Are you okay? Did Jumin get you your food?”

“You got him to do that?” He said, pausing, and looking confused for a moment before his face broke into a big smile. “You’re an angel, Cuixin. I know I keep saying it, but it’s true.” 

Something tickled at her, some sort of familiarity, before V’s bed came into the room with a couple nurses and she was distracted by asking them questions about his state and what she could do to help.

An hour later, Vanderwood came in the room with a plate of food, saying it was for her and mumbling something about Seven’s favors.

***

She checked into the chat room throughout the day, called everyone every chance she got, and pulled up an empty chair next to V’s bed, because she had the feeling that Jumin was coming back later that night. She didn’t have much else to do, and she knew that if she didn’t do something she’d start thinking, and there wasn’t time for that yet.

Not until Rika was gone, and they were safe, and, hopefully, the Believers at Mint Eye got help. She wanted Rika to get help too, but she had no confidence that Rika would go down quietly.

At the thought, she sent a text to Seven to tell him to be careful and to come back safe.

V was quiet and pale against the sheets. The doctors said that the blood loss had been pretty bad, and that if he woke up soon, he would be confused and in pain, and they’d probably have to put him under again.

At least the confusion and pain were something she had adjusted to seeing over the past couple days.

Later at night, Jumin showed up in the chat.

They talked, and Jumin worried over her a bit before they focused on Mint Eye. Right in time for Rika to come in.

It wasn’t a good conversation. Cuixin could tell he was getting agitated, even through the chat. Rika either didn’t notice or didn’t care, and she was too good at manipulating people to not notice.

Jumin left the chat, and she stayed until Rika was done saying whatever it was she felt she had to. When she called Jumin afterwards to check on him, he didn’t answer. She knew it was because he was busy taking care of Mint Eye, but she chewed at her lip anyway, worrying for him.

She held V’s hand a little tighter.

“You know, if you were awake, you’d apologize and say something about how I shouldn’t have to worry.” She smiled down at him, and settled in to wait.

***

Jumin didn’t come back until very late that night. It was maybe two in the morning before he opened the door near silently, and entered the room.

She pulled her head up from V’s bed and swiped the tears from her eyes a couple times before she turned to him. “Jumin.”

“Cuixin?” He seemed frozen, halfway through closing the door. He looked as bad as she must have. His eyes were almost bruised-looking and his shoulders were sagging.

“How did everything go? Is everyone okay?” Her voice cracked on the last word, and she winced before clearing her throat.

He blinked twice, three times, and then squared his shoulders slightly. “Mint Eye is gone. They snuck out while the hacker planted a bomb. We don’t know how many are dead and how many escaped.”

She almost let out a sigh of relief. Maybe Ray was okay? But then she thought of the last few phone calls, and Rika’s last appearance in the messenger, and she knew deep down that he was dead. 

She felt her lip wobble and took a breath.

“And Rika?” she said, in a whisper.

“...There was another explosion at her apartment. We haven’t found anything.” He said it almost neutral, but there was a slight crease in his brow.

“Oh, no… Why… did she want it to end like this?” Cuixin said, voice tight.

“I don’t understand, myself. It-” He cut off, closing his eyes and taking a breath before opening them again. “I understand this is a very complicated situation, and that with V recovering from his injuries, he can’t lead us through it. I’ll take charge of everything and-”

He had decided it was his turn to push the car, and she would not stand for it. No. They were all tired, and hurt, and they needed to cry, or at the very least just be sad.

So she held up her hand to cut him off and then beckoned for him.

“Come sit.” She said.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, but moved forward to sit next to her, in the empty chair. He sighed as soon as he’d settled.

“Just how did it turn out like this?” He whispered, sounding lost.

“I don’t know. It’s a lot to try to understand.” She said, and reached for V’s hand where it rested on the bed.

“V… lied to us for so long, to try to protect us from Rika, who was lying even longer. And now my friend lies in a hospital bed.” He made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat.

“I only met all of you a few days ago, but...I can tell that you were close with Rika too.” She said, looking directly at Jumin. He was sitting with his head tipped back, eyes closed, and had gripped the armrests of his chair tightly.

“I was. This will leave scars on all of us. I am no exception.” The last sentence sounded like he had had to drag it out of himself.

His grip had gone white-knuckled on the chair.

She only hesitated a second before reaching over, with her hand that wasn’t busy holding V’s, and settled it on top of Jumin’s. Almost reflexively, he turned it over and grasped her hand softly. He felt warm in the cold air of the hospital room.

She squeezed it, just a touch. “We will make it out of this.”

His eyes opened and he looked down at their hands.

“I…” He trailed off, and they sat in silence for a moment, V’s machines softly beeping in the background.

“I didn’t think I would have to lose Rika twice. And...I know V will be fine, and yet..”

His hand was shaking, just a little, and his eyes were wide. She felt like this was a hugely emotional statement for him.

“It’s okay. It’s okay to feel this way. It’s okay.” She said, as her grip on her tears start faded.

“I shouldn’t be-”

“We shouldn’t have to deal with this at all. Here we are. So it’s okay to feel it.” She said. It was a quote from her childhood therapist. The one who had helped the most.

He was quiet, but his hand gripped hers a little more firmly.

They stayed like that until dawn, silent, but holding each other, and at some point her tears dried and his hands steadied. 

He sighed when they first saw the sun, and his voice was gritty when he said, “I’m going to cancel the party. I’ll have to release an explanation to the media as to why. You need to sleep, you’ll hurt yourself if you keep on like this.”

She smiled weakly and said “I could say the same thing to you.”

His brow furrowed very slightly. “You have had a much more stressful month than I have.”

“We’ll both be fine.” She squeezed his hand again and then let go to stand and stretch a bit. She felt all stiff and stuffy. “We all will. The RFA, V. We’ll make it out of this if we stick together.”

Jumin studied her for a moment before he moved to leave. “You will be good for V. He could use a little more teamwork spirit.”

She laughed again. “Well, it’s good he has a team. I’ll see you later?”

“Of course…. Thank you, Cuixin.”

“Of course. We have to look out for each other. It’s what V wants.” She said with a smile.

“Yes, it is.” Jumin said and gave her a small smile in return before he left to piece together everyone else.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Phone Call between Jumin and V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing more for this! it's not chronological and there's little to no chance that it will start being chronological in the future. So, just be prepared.

Assistant Kang told him about the call from V and he all but sprinted down to the Intelligence Unit’s Headquarters to take it.

The silence from his phone the day before was... Unsettling. He knew why Luciel had decided to cut off their access to the messenger, but without being directly tapped into V’s situation, he had felt very concerned. And not being able to even chat about little things with the other members of the RFA had been surprisingly uncomfortable. He was unused to this.

The trip through the elevator felt rather long. He nearly ripped the phone out of the Head of the Intelligence Unit’s hand when he finally got to it.

“V. Are you there?” He asked.

There was a pause, and in it he heard slightly labored breathing. The drug was still affecting him.

“Jumin, I need- I need you to promise me something. I know I don’t deserve to ask you this after everything that’s happened. Since I-I made Rika like this and lied to you, but…” V panted in what sounded like pain.

“V, I’ve done research into what Rika has done. I do not blame you for your actions, even though they weren’t ideal, I understand-” Jumin was cut off. 

“There’s no time. No time. I’m sorry, but I need you to promise me something.”

“Alright.” Jumin felt his brow furrowing. 

“Cuixin, she’s...she’s wonderful. She’s such a good person, and she’s so innocent in all of this. She’s a victim, Jumin.”

“I know. The Intelligence Unit uncovered Mint Eye’s information, and it seems like they’ve been kidnapping for a while.”

“Yes. They have. Rika- No, I have to focus. Jumin, Cuixin is….she is so vibrant. And- and I care for her.”

Jumin made a noncommital hn noise, and leaned back in his chair.

“I need you to promise me that no matter what happens to me, you’ll take care of her.”

“Of course, V. She is a member of the RFA and-” Jumin started, feeling a little more settled. This was something he could handle easily, a more familiar territory than he had been in in the past few weeks.

“No, Jumin. I mean, yes, but… I think there’s only one way for this to end, for Rika to leave all of you and everyone else alone. And I don’t deserve- I wish-” he cut off with a choked noise.

Jumin realized with a start that V was crying. His breathing- had he been crying the whole time? Jumin did not know his friend to cry often, even as emotional as he was.

“V? I-” And Jumin was rarely so anxious. He shifted in his chair and reached for his cufflink.

“Jumin...I wish I could have told you. I wish we could have fixed this and then you and I and- and- no. I don’t deserve-” V paused for a moment and took a deep watery breath.

“V, there’s no need for you to talk about yourself like this.” Jumin must have frowned, because the intern who was watering the plants in the room made a frightened face before leaving the room in a hurry, job half-finished.

“Jumin, when you meet Cuixin, when you see her, talk with her, you’ll understand what I mean when I say- she’s vibrant. She’s helped me so much, I don’t- I feel like I’m growing all the time around her, and breaking through... Like vines…” There was another deep breath, and V’s voice sounded more steady. “I need you to promise me that you’ll take care of her. Please. Make sure nothing bad happens to her because of- because of me. She deserves a chance to love. She deserves to be loved. Even if- I’m not the one who can. I don’t deserve- and you. You deserve a chance for that too. I think you two could be good for each other and- and be happy. I want her to be happy, no matter who she’s with.” 

Jumin was still listening, only barely, through his shock. V was asking- this was absurd. If he felt this strongly about Cuixin, how could he- Rika was alive and she was morally reprehensible but- He- this was absurd. 

The Head of the Intelligence Unit showed no reaction to this, and simply kept tracing the phone call. Assistant Kang, however, was staring at Jumin.

“Jumin, I. I wish you and I had- I never appreciated your presence enough when I had the chance. You are my- my best friend and I-” V was near tears again, Jumin could hear it, and it recentered him.

“V. If you let us help, we will handle this. We’ll get Rika the help she needs, and you and Cuixin- and Luciel- can come back to us safe. There’s no need for all of this.”

“Jumin… I wish- I hope… Cuixin is trying to get me to think like that too.” There was the edge of a smile to his tone, in spite of the tears. “But I need to know that she isn’t- alone. After this. That she’s cared for. Loved. That she can live happily. And I want to know that you can too. Please, promise me.”  
Jumin swallowed, and it was surprisingly hard to do so. Perhaps he needed a throat lozenge. “I promise, V.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry that I’m putting all of this-” There was some shuffling from the other side of the phone. “Yes, I’ll be in in a minute, Luciel, don’t worry!”

“I’m sorry, Jumin, I have to go. I shouldn’t have taken this long even…” He muttered.

“It’s alright. I understand. The situation is grave. V… just… don’t be too stubborn.” He rubbed at his eyes with his hand.

“I’ll try, my friend. I have to go. Thank you, and goodbye.” V said, right before he hung up.

Jumin sat still for a few moments, simply breathing and staring down at his phone. He could scarcely believe what had happened.

“We couldn’t get a lock on him in time.” The Head of the Intelligence Unit said.

“Mr. Han?” Assistant Kang said, her tone concerned.

He had never heard V speak like that before. He was as self-deprecating as always but… He wanted Cuixin to be happy without him? V was stubborn, and he clung to things. To relationships, long past it making sense. After Rika had damaged his eyes, he had done nothing to make Jumin think he would leave her.

And now he was willing to leave Rika for the sake of Cuixin. For the sake of Cuixin, he would ask his best friend to- do what exactly? Love her?

He mentally shook himself. V was drugged, and that could explain most of the interaction. And it was a waste of energy to spend all this time speculating and stewing. The RFA needed him to focus and lead them.

So instead of contemplating any longer, he stood up and started issuing orders to Assistant Kang and the Intelligence Unit, and simply added a new layer to his plan considering some of the worst-case scenarios. He had made a promise. He may need to account for it.


End file.
